Matthew 15:21-28 Puppies
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: April 19 & 20, 2019 Matthew 15:21-28
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
(Understanding the Text) They are in the area around Tyre and Sidon. That means that for some reason they had travelled over near the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. I wonder why they were there. The next verses are set by the Sea of Galilee, so Matthew does not tell us what else they were doing during that trip. The story in Mark gives some hints. “And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet” (Mark 7:24-25). Evidently, the crowds had become too great, and the pressure from the Pharisees was increasing too rapidly. It was not yet time for Jesus to die, so I think He went undercover for a while to let interest cool down. Jesus had tried to withdraw to a deserted place near the Sea of Galilee, but the people had followed Him, and He had ended up performing the miracle of feeding the 5,000+ so that His fame grew even larger. Pharisees had come all the way from Jerusalem to check Him out and to criticize Him. He had said that they were blind and that people should not follow them. The Pharisees had been offended by Jesus’ refusal to meekly accept their criticism. Thus, the anger and plotting of the Pharisees only increased. In addition, Jesus still had not had a chance to be in a private place with His disciples, whom He needed to debrief after sending them out by themselves.
Mark tells us that Jesus could not remain hidden. I wonder whose house Jesus was staying at. At this point, Jesus had so many followers that one of them could have privately spoken with Jesus and donated a rest house for them.
At first I thought that they were walking around outside when the woman approached them but after I read the version in Mark, I looked at Matthew’s again and realized that it does not indicate a place, whether inside or outside. Then I compared different versions and realized that the ESV “came out,” which implies that she was inside and came outside to where the disciples and Jesus were, is different from the other versions which say that she was traveling from her place to the place where Jesus was staying. In other words, she heard that Jesus was in the area and traveled quickly from her home in the hills to the lowland area where Jesus was living. “And behold, a woman of Canaan coming out of these borders” (MKJV), “a woman of Canaan coming forth from those borders” (LITV)
Jesus was staying in a home on the coast relaxing with His disciples and debriefing them about their travels. He was teaching them, and generally getting some stress-free time before the next big push of His mission. Word got around that the famous healing rabbi was in the area, and the Canaanite woman realized that there was hope for her daughter for the first time. She left her daughter with a family member, maybe her husband, and started the journey from her home to the place where Jesus was living. It sounds like from verse 23 that Jesus was sitting a little ways away from His disciples. From Matthew’s version, I get the feeling that she first stood back a little and yelled to Jesus loudly. This would make sense with the way the Jews usually interacted with Gentiles.
(Revelation of God / Understanding the Text) I think Jesus saw the looks of distaste on the disciples’ faces and decided to teach them a lesson. Maybe, they had earlier expressed disgust at having to be among so many heathen people. When Jesus did not respond, the woman cried louder and louder. She refused to give up. She kept yelling asking Jesus to have mercy and heal her daughter of the demon. The disciples walked over to Jesus and pleaded with Him to stop ignoring her and send her away. They assumed that since He did not immediately respond that He was rejecting her by giving her the cold shoulder. They were all trying to remain on the downlow, and her loud shouts were going to draw attention. That’s why they begged Jesus to send her away. She was going to break their cover.
(Understanding the Text) Jesus finally looked at the woman, but instead of a direct command to go away, like both she and the disciples were expecting, Jesus interacted with her. It sounds to modern ears like an insulting reaction, but compared to the reaction most Jews would have given, it was quite mild. Jesus told her an excuse for not helping her. He told her that He had been sent to help Israel, not Gentiles. The woman took this mild rebuke/explanation for not helping as encouragement that He could be convinced. The woman rushed closer and threw herself down at Jesus’ feet and began pleading with Him to heal her daughter from a demon.
Now, Jesus’ focus was turned more on the woman. He told her that it was not right to take the food away from the children to feed the puppies. On the surface it sounded like He was delivering a typical Jewish rejection of Gentiles, but I think the disciples might have begun to realize that something was going on. Maybe Jesus was simply repeating a bigoted remark that one of them had said earlier. They had been in debriefing sessions with Jesus. Maybe during those sessions, Jesus had indicated that they would ultimately be giving the message to the Gentiles also and had gotten resistance. Their hardhearted attitudes about the Gentiles may have frustrated Jesus and led Him to separate from the disciples for a while to commune with His Father. The woman may have even been an answer to Jesus’ prayer. Now, the fact that Jesus responds gently and uses the diminutive term puppies gives the woman the handle she needs to keep going. She was not asking for the food, just a crumb that could be spared. Even the dogs were allowed to eat the food that the children messily dropped to the ground. She was just asking for a small thing compared to what Jesus could do.
The disciples were typical Jews in some senses, but they were not typical also. They had a natural compassion for others that Jesus had strengthened and developed. They had just come back from serving others by healing them and proclaiming the message of the kingdom of heaven. At this point, the disciples may have begun to realize what general bigotry towards a group meant in terms of individual suffering. Their natural compassion had to have stirred as this mother persisted in pleading humbly for her daughter. The woman’s lack of pride, her love, and her worry for her child would have softened the disciples’ bigotry and caused them to want to help her. When she answered their objection by begging for crumbs of what they themselves received ungratefully many times, their hearts would have opened to her. Jesus saw that His lesson had gotten through to these big-hearted men that He loved, so He quickly ended the lesson so that the woman would not go through any more anxiety than necessary. He answered that He had granted her wish because she trusted Him greatly and believed totally that He could heal her daughter. From that moment one, her daughter was never tormented by a demon again.
This may not have been about demon possession. The Gentile woman was the person who identified the problem as such. In Matthew, Jesus never once mentions casting out a demon. Instead, He is careful with His words saying “Let it be done like you want.” Thus, it is probable that it was some kind of brain disease that Jesus healed. On the other hand, Mark’s account does have Jesus using the term demon. “And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone” (Mar 7:29-30). Maybe, it was a demon, or maybe, Jesus simply used the term she was using to mean that the sickness or defect was gone. The only clue we have is that being calm and sleeping were signs that she was well. Somehow, the child would not have remained in bed under the domination of the demon, but without it, she was calm and sleeping.
How did they know about what happened to the child after Jesus spoke healing? Did the woman return to thank them? Did they make contact with her later after Jesus death? Did she become an influential member of the church?
(Application) My application for myself is that since I know that God has promised to be with me and since I know that God’s character is love and that He loves me, I should not give up when He seems not to reply. There is more going on than I know, but He will take care of me also. I need to trust God when He seems not to respond. I need to trust Him in all situations whether they seem favorable or not. He will respond.
My second application to myself is that when I run into sincere Christians who are bigoted, I should trust God to know how to activate the natural compassion that occurs when people spend time with Him. I should not judge that they will not change but instead, I should trust that their love of Jesus will ultimately bring about new thoughts and feelings towards others.
(Prayer) Teach me to trust You in all circumstances and to know You so well that I see Your compassion in all the situations that I find myself. I ask that You will rid me of all my bigotry and intolerance so that I can treat others as You would.